US6406641B1 - Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology - Google Patents
Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology Download PDFInfo
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- US6406641B1 US6406641B1 US08/877,537 US87753797A US6406641B1 US 6406641 B1 US6406641 B1 US 6406641B1 US 87753797 A US87753797 A US 87753797A US 6406641 B1 US6406641 B1 US 6406641B1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L22/00—Testing or measuring during manufacture or treatment; Reliability measurements, i.e. testing of parts without further processing to modify the parts as such; Structural arrangements therefor
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- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- G01B11/00—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques
- G01B11/02—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring length, width or thickness
- G01B11/06—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring length, width or thickness for measuring thickness ; e.g. of sheet material
- G01B11/0616—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring length, width or thickness for measuring thickness ; e.g. of sheet material of coating
- G01B11/0683—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring length, width or thickness for measuring thickness ; e.g. of sheet material of coating measurement during deposition or removal of the layer
Definitions
- the present invention relates to semiconductor process endpoint systems. Endpoint systems determine the completion of a semiconductor process so that the semiconductor process can be halted.
- Plasma etching endpoint systems detect and analyze light emitted from the formed plasma. As the etching step is completed, the composition of the emitted light from the plasma changes. These changes can be used to detect the endpoint of the plasma etch. Examples of such plasma etch endpoint systems include Koshimizu U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,590; O'Neill U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,414; and Dimitrelis U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,488.
- etch is a “liquid” or “wet” etch.
- a liquid etchant is placed on a wafer to etch away unwanted material, such as in a patterning step. Because wet etching systems do not use a plasma, no emitted light is produced that could be used to determine an endpoint.
- One type of endpoint detection for an etch of a thin layer is an interferometric technique.
- an etched layer has a index of refraction that is significantly different from an underlayer, the total reflectance is highly dependent on the thickness of the top layer as a function of wavelength.
- top layer thicknesses For a given wavelength, some top layer thicknesses produce constructive interference of reflected light and some top layer thicknesses cause destructive interference of reflected light.
- a rainbow-colored oil slick on a puddle is a everyday illustration of a similar effect. Areas of oil with different thicknesses preferably reflect different wavelengths.
- the top layer For single wavelength interferometry, typically, only a narrow wavelength range of light is reflected off of the substrate. As the top layer is etched away, the change in the top layer thickness causes oscillations in the graph of detected intensity versus time. When the top layer is removed, the detected oscillations end.
- a disadvantage of the interferometric method is that a significant difference between the index of refraction of the etched layer and the index of refraction of the underlayer is required to obtain a good signal-to-noise ratio. For this reason, this method is inappropriate for use with many wet etch processes.
- a deposited silicon dioxide layer has an index of refraction that is within one percent of the index of refraction of a thermally-grown silicon dioxide layer.
- the oscillations in the reflected light intensity for an etch of deposited silicon dioxide over grown silicon dioxide would be undetectable due to noise caused by environmental and process fluctuations. Intense background lighting is an example of an environmental fluctuation. Process fluctuations can include wafer chuck rotation, oscillations of the chemical dispenser, and non-uniform etching rates.
- the endpoint of a semiconductor process is detected by identifying a sudden slope change in an intensity indication produced using light reflected off of a semiconductor wafer.
- the detection of a slope change does not require a top layer to have a different index of refraction from the underlayer. For example, for an etch of deposited silicon dioxide over thermally grown silicon dioxide, it has been found that the intensity of detected light reflected off of a wafer has a slope change near the endpoint.
- light over a relatively wide range of wavelengths is reflected off of a wafer surface during a semiconductor process.
- Reflecting a relatively wide range of wavelengths off of a wafer to determine the endpoint has a number of advantages.
- this allows for two or more detectors to monitor two or more different wavelength ranges of reflected light.
- Monitoring light in two or more different ranges allows for an indication to be produced which is a function of multiple reflected light intensities.
- the detected light intensity for a first wavelength range may have a different rate of change than a detected intensity for a second wavelength range as the top layer is etched away.
- An indication which is a ratio of the second intensity value over the first intensity value can remove some of the process noise and variability and produce a steeper slope function to give a better indication of the endpoint than either of the two intensities alone.
- the system can provide the user with flexibility in selecting desired wavelength ranges to monitor during the process.
- the system of the present invention allows the selection of wavelength ranges that are particularly material dependent and thus repeatable for a given process.
- the detected intensity of reflected light of a wafer material forms a repeatable “fingerprint” of the material. Further, the material's “fingerprints” can be used as a baseline to determine information concerning the process.
- the prior art use of a narrow bandpass filter to filter the light from the light source restricts the wavelengths of light reflected off the wafer to a narrow range and thus prevents some advantages of the present invention.
- the light source that produces a wide range of wavelengths need not be a broadband light source.
- a preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a light source, such as a tungsten/mercury light bulb, that produces multiple emission peaks over the relatively wide wavelength range. The reflections off of the wafer at these emission peaks produces a more pronounced change in signal.
- the change in the detected intensity of the reflected light versus time is the result of a change in the composition of the liquid etchant.
- substances such as products and by-products of the etch are added to the liquid etchant. These substances can affect the detected intensity of reflected light.
- the endpoint of the process occurs, these substances are not introduced into the liquid etchant at such a high rate and the composition of the etchant changes.
- the endpoint of the etch can be determined from a change in the detected intensity of reflected light. This effect can be used for etches in which the top layer has a similar index of refraction as the underlayer.
- the change in the detected intensity of the reflected light versus time is the result of a different surface roughness or porosity of the etched layer compared to the underlayer.
- a rough surface will reflect light differently than a smooth surface.
- the endpoint of the etch can be determined from a change in the detected intensity of reflected light even when the top layer has a similar index of refraction as the underlayer.
- optical fiber(s) operably connected to the light source are surrounded by optical fibers operatively connected to the detectors. This allows for an efficient detection of light. For light incident straight down on a flat surface, the highest level of reflections tend to be near the source optical fibers. Arranging the detector optical fibers about the source optical fiber(s) allows for an efficiently detected signal.
- a preferred embodiment of the present invention arranges the detector optical fibers in a ring around the source optical fibers. If more than one detector is used, the detector optical fibers for each detector are preferably arranged relatively evenly about the ring for an even pickup of light from the same wafer surface area.
- An additional embodiment of the present invention involves the use of multiple different types of detectors.
- Each type of detector can have a different operating wavelength range.
- a display of detected light intensity over the combined wavelength range can then be produced.
- the user can select wavelengths within the combined wavelength range for monitoring during the semiconductor process.
- Another embodiment of the present invention concerns the detection of an endpoint of an etch of a deposited dielectric, such as a silicon dioxide layer formed in a chemical vapor deposition using tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate (TEOS) over a grown dielectric such as a thermally-grown silicon dioxide.
- a deposited dielectric such as a silicon dioxide layer formed in a chemical vapor deposition using tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate (TEOS) over a grown dielectric such as a thermally-grown silicon dioxide.
- TEOS tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate
- An etch of a silicon nitride layer over a deposited or thermally-grown oxide is another etch where the top layer has an index of refraction similar to the underlayer.
- the system of the present invention is particularly valuable to detect an endpoint of that etch as well.
- Still another embodiment of the present invention concerns the detection of an endpoint of an etch of anti-reflective aluminum.
- Anti-reflective aluminum is typically positioned over polysilicon, or dielectric layer. Because of the lack of reflections from the anti-reflective aluminum, it is hard to detect an endpoint for such an etch. In the present invention, since a wide range of wavelengths are reflected off of the wafer, the user can select those wavelength ranges that are affected by the removal of such a layer.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wet etch endpoint detector system of the present invention
- FIG. 2A is a cross-section of an optical fiber bundle used with the present invention.
- FIG. 2B is a cross-section of an alternate embodiment of an optical fiber bundle used with the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a diagram of an alternate endpoint detector system of the present invention.
- FIG. 4A is an illustration showing the intensity of a wavelength range A and B versus time
- FIG. 4B shows the intensity of a ratio A over B versus time
- FIG. 5A is a diagram of an embodiment of the endpoint detector of the present invention showing the beginning of an etch of a deposited dielectric
- FIG. 5B is a diagram of an embodiment of the endpoint detector of the present invention showing the end of an etch of a deposited dielectric
- FIG. 6A is a graph showing the intensity of the reflected light before and after an etch of deposited silicon dioxide over grown silicon dioxide;
- FIG. 6B is an expansion of FIG. 6A in a wavelength range from 230 nm to 390 nm;
- FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating reflected intensity versus time for reflections at a narrow wavelength range about 586 nm for the etch of FIG. 6A.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram of an embodiment of the endpoint detector of the present invention showing a patterned etch.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram of an endpoint detection system of the present invention.
- This system 20 can be used with a known wet etch system.
- Etching liquid supply 22 supplies liquid etchant to a semiconductor wafer 24 .
- the wafer 24 is rotated so that the etchant liquid evenly distributes over the surface.
- the dispenser oscillates along a radius of the wafer 24 .
- the endpoint detection system 20 uses a light source 26 .
- the light source 26 can be a tungsten/mercury light bulb.
- the tungsten/mercury light bulb 26 supplies light over a relatively wide range of wavelengths.
- the tungsten/mercury light bulb has a number of emission peaks over the relatively wide range. As is discussed below, reflections at some of the emission peaks can give information about the endpoint of semiconductor processes. Multiple light sources each having a characteristic set of emission peaks could be used. This produces more possible wavelengths of interest.
- An optical element 30 can be used to couple the light source to the optical fibers 28 .
- the light source produces light over a range of 100 to 1,500 nanometers. In a more preferred embodiment, the light source produces light over the range of 200 to 800 nanometers.
- the light from the light source 26 is sent through the optical fiber bundle 28 to reflect off the wafer 24 .
- the reflected light is transmitted through optical fibers surrounding the bundle 28 .
- the optical coupler 32 distributes the detected light to detectors 42 and 44 through bundles 34 and 36 .
- FIG. 2A is an illustration of the cross-section of the bundle of optical fibers in a preferred embodiment.
- one or more fiber(s) 50 are used to transmit the light to the wafer.
- the fibers in the outer ring are evenly distributed between fibers 52 a connected to the first detector and fibers 52 b connected to the second detector. For this reason, the reflected light sent to each detector comes from the same wafer surface area illuminated by the source fiber(s) 50 .
- the optical coupler 32 shown in FIG. 2 distributes the bundles to the correct detector.
- FIG. 2B is an illustration of a cross-section of a bundle of optical fibers in an alternate embodiment.
- a single source optical fiber 50 ′ is surrounded by fibers 52 a ′ connected to the first detector and fibers 52 b ′ connected to the second detector.
- FIG. 1 shows the light beam directed straight down at the wafer 24 . It is possible to direct polarized light to the wafer at an angle; the polarized light would produce high back-reflections to the detector portion of the bundle.
- FIG. 1 shows two detectors 42 and 44 .
- detector 42 comprises a photo-multiplier tube 42 b along with a monochrometer 42 a.
- the photo-multiplier tube is a Hathamathu.
- the scanning monochrometer is preferably an ISA. In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the monochrometers is a scanning monochrometer.
- a monochrometer directs a selected wavelength range of reflected light to the photomultiplying tube.
- the detector can thus produce an indication of the reflected light intensity at a given wavelength.
- a display of the intensity of the reflected light versus wavelength can be produced.
- the user can determine from the display of wavelength versus reflected light intensity the wavelength range or ranges be monitored during the semiconductor process.
- the processor can then set the scanning monochrometer 42 a to the desired range.
- the other monochrometer 44 a can be a manual or scanning monochrometer.
- a manual monochrometer is set by hand to the desired wavelength range. By using two detectors, two different wavelength ranges can be monitored.
- the processor 47 is, in a preferred embodiment, a Luxtron 1015DS Endpoint Process Controller or an Optima 9100 Endpoint Process Controller available from the Luxtron Corporation. Alternately, the processor 47 can be a programmed microprocessor. The processor 47 controls the display 48 . The processor 47 can also use the intensity indications to determine the endpoint of the semiconductor process. Once the endpoint is determined, the processor 47 can control the system to halt the processing step.
- Display 48 can show graphs of the reflected light intensity versus time and reflected light intensity versus wavelength.
- FIG. 3 is a diagram of an alternate embodiment of the endpoint detection system of the present invention.
- Curve 60 a on display 60 shows the reflected light intensity versus wavelength. Different individual wavelength ranges 60 b and 60 c can be selected. These wavelength ranges can be manually or automatically set to be monitored during the semiconductor processing step.
- two different types of detector 62 b and 64 b are used.
- the two different type of detectors have different operating ranges.
- the type I detector has a first operating range 66
- the type II detector has a second operating range 68 .
- a display of the reflected light intensity over a combined wavelength range can be produced.
- the two different type of detectors may be photo-multiplier tubes having different operating ranges. Alternately, one or more other types of detectors rather than photo-multiplier tubes can be used.
- Display 60 shows a graph of the detected light intensity versus wavelength.
- a display of detected light intensity versus frequency or any other wavelength indication can also be produced.
- a wavelength indication will be defined as including wavelength, frequency, or any other function of the wavelength.
- FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the endpoint detection concept.
- FIG. 4A is a diagram that shows the reflected intensity versus time for wavelength ranges A and B.
- Wavelength range A could correspond to range 60 b and wavelength range B could correspond to range 60 c in FIG. 3 .
- the detected light intensity in wavelength range A rises at a greater rate than the detected light intensity in wavelength range B during the semiconductor process.
- the detected signals A and B may include external noise and process variability that can be reduced by forming the ratio A/B as the monitored intensity indication.
- the function A/B is a scalar value.
- Each of the functions used for endpoint detection can be adjusted so that the initial value is at a fixed initial value. It has been found that ratio and multiples such as A/B, AB, AB/C, etc. produce a good endpoint detection indication.
- a relatively wide wavelength range light source allows multiple wavelengths to be monitored. This allows combined functions of intensities at different wavelengths to be produced. These functions allow for improved endpoint detection as described above. Such combined functions could not be produced if only a relatively narrow wavelength range were reflected off the wafer.
- FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention.
- the light comes through fiber bundle 80 , and reflects off the wafer 84 back to bundles in area 82 .
- the wafer 84 is rotated using a holder 86 .
- the liquid etch material is supplied through tube 88 to form a layer 85 .
- the liquid etchant is about 200 times more selective for the deposited oxide than the grown oxide.
- One embodiment of the present invention determines the endpoint of an etch of materials formed on the back side of a wafer.
- Circuit structures 84 a are formed on the front side of the wafer, but the processing steps used to form these structures can form layers such as oxides on the back side of the wafer.
- a deposited oxide layer without removing a thermally-grown oxide layer. Detecting the transition between the deposited oxide and the grown oxide is relatively difficult because these oxides have similar index of refractions.
- a light source to supply light over a wide wavelength range to reflect off of the wafer surface, it was found that the deposited oxide and the thermally-grown oxide have different reflectivity signatures.
- the deposited dielectric has a different surface roughness than the thermally-grown dielectric layer.
- the roughness of the exposed deposited oxide shown in FIG. 5A is believed to be greater than the roughness of the exposed thermally-grown oxide layer shown in FIG. 5 B. This can affect the detected intensity of reflected light as the process proceeds. A rough surface tends to scatter light more than a smooth surface. Depending on the orientation of the source fiber and the detector fiber, the detected intensity of reflected light may be greater for a smooth surface or a rough surface.
- FIG. 6A is a graph showing the intensity of reflected light before and after an etch of deposited silicon dioxide over a grown silicon dioxide.
- the graph was produced by scanning a monochrometer from 230 nm to 640 nm and reading the voltage output of a corresponding photo-multiplier tube. Two scans t 1 and t 2 were done of a deposited oxide before the endpoint was reached; two other scans t 3 and t 4 were done of a thermal grown oxide after the endpoint was reached. Note that a number of the peaks vary in the reflected light intensity before and after the endpoint is reached. The similarity of graphs t 1 with t 2 and graphs t 3 with t 4 indicates the repeatability of the reflectivity profiles.
- FIG. 6B is an expansion of FIG. 6A in a wavelength range from 230 nm to 390 nm.
- FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating reflected intensity versus time for reflections at a narrow wavelength range about 586 nm for the etch of FIG. 6 A.
- a monochrometer is arranged at 586 nm.
- the output of the photo-multiplier is filtered via averaging to remove some of the variability. Note that the detected intensity rises as the semiconductor process proceeds. This may be because the thermally-grown oxide is smoother than the deposited oxide or as a result of the reduction of the level of products and by-products of the etch in the liquid etchant as the etch is completed.
- the curve of FIGS. 7 can be used to determine an endpoint of the etch process.
- the endpoint can be determined by analyzing the rate of change of the intensity indication. Multiple intensities can be used in a combined intensity indication to be analyzed.
- a windowing technique is used.
- a graphical window of variable dimensions is positioned on the display.
- Each graphical window is positioned so that the center of the left face is at the point that the curve leaves the prior window.
- the slope of the curve will be such that the curve will leave through the top or bottom of the window.
- the slope of the curve will be such that the curve will pass out the right side of the window.
- the endpoint can be defined as a point that the curve passes left-to-right through a predetermined number of windows.
- the reflected light intensity curve depends upon the wavelength being monitored.
- the best wavelength ranges to monitor for each process can be determined by experimentation. If two wavelength ranges are monitored at the same time, the wavelength ranges need not be on different peaks.
- the wavelength range of the monochrometer is narrow enough that two ranges could be monitored about the same reflectivity peak. This technique may be used to avoid drift effects.
- one advantage of the invention of FIGS. 1 and 3 is that the system can be used for different wet etching steps in the same etcher. Different wavelengths can be monitored by the system during these different processing steps in order to determine an endpoint for each of the processing steps. Different wavelength ranges give better information as to the endpoint for different wet etches.
- the method of the present invention can also be used to determine the endpoint of an etch of anti-reflective aluminum. Because of the low reflectivity of the anti-reflective aluminum, it is difficult to detect the endpoint of an etch of this substance. By using a wide range of incident light, the best wavelength ranges can be found for monitoring.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram of an embodiment of the endpoint detector of the present invention showing a patterned etch.
- a patterned photoresist layer 90 is positioned on the top layer 92 .
- a liquid etchant is placed on the wafer to selectively etch the top layer 92 down to the underlayer 94 .
- the detected light intensity for this embodiment will tend to be some combination of the intensity “signatures” for the materials of the photoresist, the top layer, and the underlayer. Since the amount of photoresist will remain relatively constant, a change in the detected intensity may result from a change in the exposed surface areas of the top layer versus the underlayer.
- the dispenser and fiber assembly oscillates along a radius of the wafer, for different assembly positions different rings of the wafer are illuminated.
- An averaging of the detected light intensity over the period of the assembly oscillation may avoid problems due to an uneven photoresist pattern.
- the system of the present invention can also be used to find an endpoint to other semiconductor processes.
- the present invention could be used to determine an endpoint of a photo-lithography development step.
- the photo-resist is exposed with ultra-violet light.
- a wide wavelength range light source that avoids the ultra-violet region can reflect off of the wafer to indicate the development of the photo-resist.
- the light source may range from 550 nm to 1000 nm.
- the system of the present invention can also be used with a planarization step.
- the system of the present invention can be used to determine a state of the processing step other than an endpoint.
- the present invention can produce a rough estimate of the level of exposed underlayer and thus act as a metrology tool.
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Priority Applications (5)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US08/877,537 US6406641B1 (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1997-06-17 | Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology |
KR1019997011978A KR20010013952A (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1998-06-17 | Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology |
PCT/US1998/012661 WO1998058400A2 (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1998-06-17 | Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology |
EP98930351A EP0990253A2 (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1998-06-17 | Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology |
JP50477499A JP2002505751A (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1998-06-17 | Liquid etching endpoint detection and processing metrology |
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US08/877,537 US6406641B1 (en) | 1997-06-17 | 1997-06-17 | Liquid etch endpoint detection and process metrology |
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Also Published As
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WO1998058400A2 (en) | 1998-12-23 |
EP0990253A2 (en) | 2000-04-05 |
WO1998058400A3 (en) | 1999-04-01 |
JP2002505751A (en) | 2002-02-19 |
KR20010013952A (en) | 2001-02-26 |
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